Opposites Attract
by SSBFreak
Summary: Jinx is stranded in the Wastelands after the team is set up. While in the desert, he meets a group of monks and their leader... Jinx X Seem yes, you read that right
1. Separated

Chapter One: Separated

1111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111

Jak folded his arms and leaned against a wall in the Industrial Sector of Haven City, impatiently waiting for someone to show up.

"What's keeping him?" Jak muttered to himself. "Everyone in Haven knows that it's not a good idea to keep me waiting."

Suddenly hearing footsteps, Jak turned his head to watch as a businessman with dark hair walked into view.

"Are you Jak?" The man asked.

"Yeah." Jak nodded. "You're late."

"I apologize, but I'm already on a tight schedule." The businessman replied. "Let's get straight to the point."

"I would appreciate that, Mr…"

"Call me 'Kaye'." The man replied with a smirk.

"Okay. So what's this mission you've been wanting my team and I to do, Kaye?"

1111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111

Torn walked down the street of the port in Haven City, heading towards the Naughty Ottsel to meet up with everyone else. Jak had gone to meet with someone about a new mission and said that he would meet the others at the Naughty Ottsel afterwards.

Walking towards Daxter's bar, Torn pushed open the front door and walked inside. After getting inside, the redhead young man looked around and saw that most of the team was already there. Daxter and Tess were standing on the bar, serving Sig and Jinx some drinks, while Ashelin and Keira were sitting at one of the booths, having a conversation.

"Jak not here yet?" Torn asked as he walked over to the booth Ashelin and Keira were at.

"Not yet." Keira shook her head. "He's still at that meeting with this new client about the mission."

"I wonder why this guy didn't want to meet us at HQ…" Ashelin pondered.

"From what I was told, we were to come here because we would need to set out by ship and we'll be close to the take-off point." Torn replied.

"You think Samos and Onin will be alright looking after HQ?" Keira asked. "I feel bad about leaving them there."

"They'll be fine." Torn assured. "They've looked after HQ before."

"But why am I here in the first place?" The green-haired girl asked. "I'm not a fighting member of the team!"

"Someone needed to come here to look after the Naughty Ottsel." Ashelin said. "This DOES double as our second HQ."

"What's taking Jak so long, guys?" Daxter called out from the bar. "We must've been waiting for him for an hour!"

"Yeah. It can't take anyone this long just to get a mission from someone." Sig added.

"Just give him some time, boys." Tess said. "I'm sure there's a good reason Jak is taking so long."

Suddenly, as if on cue, Jak entered the Naughty Ottsel and stepped inside.

"Sorry I'm late, guys." Jak replied. "This guy took forever to show up."

"So what did he say?" Sig asked as he left the bar and walked over.

"This guy says that some of his employees saw a swarm of Metal Heads entering a cave in the Wastelands while they were visiting some clients in Spargus." Jak replied. "He wants us to go take them out before they can reproduce and start invading again."

"A swarm of Metal Heads?" Daxter asked. "What's so hard about that?"

"This 'swarm' consists of five-hundred Metal Heads, Dax." Jak replied. "This is why we all need to get out there and kill them."

"Five hundred?" Keira asked, clearly surprised. "If those things reproduce and come to Haven City…"

"Then the entire war will start over." Torn nodded. "Okay. Taking these Metal Heads out is the number-one priority."

"Kaye supplied me with an electronic map that his employees managed to get." Jak explained as he pulled out a device and inserted it into the holomap in the center of the room.

"Who's Kaye?" Ashelin asked.

"The businessman that gave us the mission." Jak replied.

Jinx raised an eyebrow as he stopped his smoking for a few seconds. Daxter and Tess noticed this.

"You okay, Jinx?" Daxter asked.

"It's just that…That name sounds familiar…" Jinx replied. "I just can't place it…"

In the meantime, Jak had brought up the holographic map of the area the Metal Heads were said to be. "This is the cave Kaye said the Metal Heads went into." Jak explained.

"So we just need to storm the cave and take out all of the Metal Heads inside?" Sig laughed. "I'm liking the sound of this."

"It's not that easy." Jak shook his head. "One of the larger Metal Heads moved a huge boulder to block the entryway to the cave. Until we get rid of that boulder, no one's getting in."

Jinx smirked. "I take it that's where I come in?" The blonde man asked.

"You'd be right, Jinx." Jak nodded. "We need you to plant those explosives of yours around the boulder while the rest of us cover your back."

"No problem." Jinx chuckled. "Just make sure you guys don't get me killed. I sorta had my heart set on actually seeing tomorrow."

Jak smirked. "Plant those explosives quickly and we'll all get out of there alive."

"So when do we head out?" Torn asked.

"As soon as possible." Jak replied. "I've already sent for the cargo ship that'll take us to the desert. It should be waiting for us at the docks by now."

"Be careful, you guys." Keira said. "There's something about this that doesn't seem right."

"You say that all the time, Keira." Daxter laughed. "We'll be fine."

Daxter suddenly noticed that Tess, whom had left for a few seconds, was walking back into the room with a gun in her small arms. "Uh…What're you doing, Tess?" He asked.

"What's it look like?" Tess asked. "I'm coming with you."

"Oh, no you're not!" Daxter replied. "It's way too dangerous!"

"Dax, I've tackled the gun course in this form before." Tess replied. "I'm a much better shot than you are, anyway."

"HEY!"

"We'd best head out now." Jak said. "We need to do this quickly if we want to get rid of all of those Metal Heads."

With that, Jak, Daxter, Torn, Ashelin, Tess, Sig and Jinx left the Naughty Ottsel, leaving Keira alone, worrying for their safe return.

"I know something's going to happen." Keira said to herself. "I just KNOW it."

111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111

The blue carrier ship landed in the Wastelands, a good twenty yards away from the entrance to the cave Jak and his friends were supposed to storm.

Sig looked up at the huge boulder blocking the way into the cave and whistled. "Now that's one big rock." He said. "I don't even think Peace Maker can break through that."

"That's where I come in." Jinx replied as he fished through a large, wheeled cart of explosives and equipment. "Just give me a second to find the right explosives."

"You'd better hurry, Jinx." Jak replied. "I can hear engines coming. That can only mean that Marauders are coming."

"Then get ready for a fight, everyone." Torn ordered. However, he suddenly felt a small weight on his shoulder. Turning his head, Torn saw Tess standing on his shoulder, a gun in her hand. "Uh…Tess, what're you doing on my shoulder?"

"Hope you don't mind, Torn. I need a little extra height to shoot further." Tess replied. "That and I've always wanted to see if riding around on someone's shoulder is as fun as Daxter says it is."

As the team got ready to fight the oncoming vehicles of barbarians, Jinx flew past the group, explosives in hand. Rushing over to the side of the boulder, Jinx got down on his knees and started planting explosives.

"Here they come!" Ashelin shouted.

"This should hold them back for a bit!" Sig laughed as he fired a shot from Peace Maker, wiping out one of the oncoming vehicles in one shot.

Unfortunately, this just made the Marauders even madder. The hulking monstrosities leapt out of their cars and charged headfirst towards the group, baring weapons sharp enough to cut down a tree in one swipe.

"Start shooting!" Jak ordered as everyone opened fire on the oncoming enemies. "Protect Jinx long enough to set the explosives!"

"Time to see what you're capable of in this form, Tess!" Torn shouted as he shot a Marauder.

"I thought you'd never ask, Torn." Tess replied with a smirk as she opened fire and easily mowed down a line of Marauders before they even got close.

Daxter's mouth fell open. "Oh, baby!" He said. "That's what I call a woman!"

"Dax, look alive!" Jak barked.

Daxter snapped to attention to watch two Marauders charge past him and run at Jinx. However, before the two enemies could get too close, Ashelin stepped in and swung her gun like a weapon, striking one of the Marauders down. Thinking quickly, Ashelin shot the remaining barbarian at close range, dispatching him instantly.

"Sig, why are these creeps always attacking everyone that sets foot in the desert, anyway?!" Ashelin shouted.

"These Marauders always consider the Wastelands their property!" Sig replied. "Anyone they don't recognize, they consider as trespassers!"

"But why can't they deal with their problems in more humane ways instead of shooting at anything that moves?!" Ashelin asked as she kicked an enemy in the head.

"Trying to get through to a Marauder?" Sig asked. "You'll have better luck teaching a Lurker to tap-dance!"

"How're the explosives going, Jinx?!" Torn asked as he and Tess continued to shoot down Marauders. "We're all running out of ammo!"

"I'm almost got it, Torn! Keep yer shirt on!" Jinx replied.

The blonde man had managed to place most of his explosives and get them hooked up to his remote detonator. However, he still had three more explosives to plant to get a boulder as big as the one he was at to blow up.

Sweat started rolling down Jinx's face, starting to second-guess at what he was doing. He quickly double-checked the explosives he had already set and let out an exhale of relief when he found that everything was set up properly. Wiping his brow, Jinx placed his other hand onto the boulder to steady himself.

However, his eyes widened when he felt a vibration coming from the boulder once a second. Pulling his hand away, Jinx saw that there was now a handprint on the boulder. The true colour of the huge boulder was black, and Jinx's hand was now coated with sand, which was what had been covering the boulder in the first place.

Gears started turning in Jinx's head for a few seconds before thinking of something. Something he didn't like the sound of. "Impossible." He said as he reached up and wiped off a small part of the boulder.

The cigar fell out of Jinx's mouth as the explosives expert stared in shock. The area he had just uncovered was a timer ticking down to zero.

And the timer was at forty-five seconds.

His eyes springing open in horror, Jinx turned. "GET BACK IN THE SHIP!!!" He shrieked as he ran towards the others. "GET BACK IN THE SHIP!!!"

"What?" Jak asked as Jinx started to make everyone run towards the ship, although in confusion. "What's wrong, Jinx?"

"We've been set up!!" Jinx practically screamed. "A powerful explosive was already set!"

"That boulder already had something planted on it?!" Sig asked.

"That boulder IS the explosive!!" Jinx shouted back.

"WHAT?!" Everyone else shouted as they all picked up the pace and ran back towards the ship.

"A bomb that big has a one-hundred-yard blast radius and it's only got thirty seconds left before it blows!" Jinx said. "We need to get as far away from here as possible!!"

Everyone jumped aboard the ship, which started taking off the instant everyone was in it. The back door closed as the ship flew off, the driver hoping to get out of range before the bomb exploded. The ship flew higher and higher in an attempt to get away from the impending explosion.

The timer on the bomb hit zero, resulting in a huge explosion. The ball of fire was sent shooting high into the air, straight towards the escaping ship.

Thankfully, the ship was out of the explosion range, but the force from the explosion made the entire ship rock back and forth for a second. The people in the team sitting down easily got themselves balanced again.

However, the force from the rocking sent Jinx's cart of explosives rolling forward, straight towards the back of the ship.

Jinx was standing directly in the path of the explosive cart, steadying himself after the force from the explosion hit the ship. Jinx turned, but couldn't do anything as his own supplies barreled into him with full force, forcing open the hatch at the back of the ship and pushing the demolitionist out of the ship. Jinx, the cart and all of the explosives were sent on a free-fall towards the sand below.

"JINX!!!" Everyone screamed in horror as the ship continued flying away, considering the pilot didn't know what was happening.

Jinx miraculously hit a sandy hill and rolled down to the bottom. The force from the fall sent a severe wave of pain through his body, but Jinx was still alive. The blonde man looked up, only to find that his own bombs had surrounded him and were about to go off. Jinx laid flat on the ground and covered his head, waiting for the end.

The explosives supply cart suddenly landed top-down over Jinx, covering him completely. Three seconds later and the bombs went off, blowing the explosive cart off of Jinx.

The explosions finally died off and Jinx was left alive. Jinx weakly looked up and back and forth for a few seconds before passing out in shock.

A shadow fell over the unconscious man. A small group of people approached Jinx as the lead one knelt down beside him.

"Is he dead?" One of the others asked.

The lead figure shook his or her head. "No. He is still alive."

"What shall we do, then?"

The lead figure stood up and turned, revealing a young woman with a white face and monk's clothing. "We shall take him back to the temple to get rested up." She replied.

"But Seem…"

"Spargus is too far away." The lead monk shook her head. "We must shelter him long enough to get him back on his feet."

"Very well. We shall get him loaded onto our vehicle…"

The lead monk nodded as she helped a few of the other monks load the unconscious Jinx into a nearby vehicle. Once everyone was in the vehicle, it sped off, carrying all of the passengers, including the unwilling one they had just picked up, back to the monk's temple.

To be continued…


	2. Introductions

Chapter Two: Introductions

1111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111

People walking through the dock area of Haven City ignored the loud noise that came from the tall building in the middle of the area. Just by listening to the noise, people knew what was wrong and simply continued on their way.

"THAT "BOULDER" WAS A BOMB THAT WOULD HAVE KILLED US ALL IF OUR DEMOLITIONIST HADN'T SPOTTED IT!!!"

To say Jak was upset would be an understatement. Currently, everyone was standing in HQ, watching Jak screaming at a hologram of Kaye's head. The businessman looked away with wide eyes.

"I…I'm sorry." Kaye said.

"SORRY?!?! JINX DIED BECAUSE YOU SENT US ON THAT SUICIDE MISSION!!! YOU THINK THAT "SORRY" IS GOING TO CUT IT?!?!" Jak roared.

"I swear that I had no idea what was going on!" Kaye insisted. "My employees must have been trying to get rid of you."

"And why would they do that?!" Torn asked, stepping in to give Jak's vocal chords a break.

"I don't know! But then again, people in high places don't tend to like Jak that much." Kaye pointed out. "Case and point: Praxis and Veger."

Keira shuddered at the mention of the two names she had been trying to forget, but remained silent and let the others continue the argument.

"But Jak did things to anger those two." Ashelin stepped in. "We've never seen you before, and I doubt that your crooked employees are any more familiar with us."

"Maybe they were hired. I don't know." Kaye shook his head. "I'll get to the bottom of this."

"You'd better." Jak muttered.

Kaye was silent. "Look, from what you've been telling me, your demolitionist died saving you guys." He reminded. "At least you can remember him as a hero." Without giving anyone a chance to react, Kaye shut his connection off, turning off the hologram.

Sig sighed and stepped forth, placing a hand on Jak's shoulder. "He has a point, Jak." The large man reminded. "We ALL would've been toast if Jinx didn't see through the bomb's disguise when he did."

"I know…" Jak nodded, looking down. "It's just that I've never lost a friend before. I know I lost Damas, but…I never knew him that well. Jinx I've known pretty much since we ended up in Haven City when I broke out of prison."

"Jak, my boy." Samos said as he came over. "You must look on the positive side of things. Like Sig said, if Jinx didn't uncover that bomb, we'd be mourning ALL of you."

Jak forced a smile. "Yeah. You're right." He agreed.

"So what're we going to do about this whole thing, buddy?" Daxter asked as he jumped onto his friend's shoulder.

"Well, first we're going to wait for Kaye to call us back with more information." Jak replied. "Once we know the names of the scumbags that set us up, we'll go and teach them a lesson they'll never forget."

"For once, you and I are on the same wavelength." Torn chuckled.

"I can't wait to get those guys." Daxter said with a wide and twisted grin.

11111111111111111111111111111111111111111111

Jinx groaned as his eyes fluttered open. Holding his head to block out the massive headache he had, Jinx slowly sat up, finding himself on a bed.

"Man. What happened?" Jinx asked himself.

"We brought you back here after you survived an explosion." A new voice replied.

Jinx suddenly became very awake and jumped at the new voice. Looking in the direction of the voice, Jinx saw a female monk walking into the room.

"You are quite the sleeper." The monk said with a smirk. "You've been out for hours."

"Where am I?" Jinx asked.

"You are in the Wastelands, in the temple of the monks." The monk replied.

"The monk temple?" Jinx asked. "I think Jak mentioned this place."

The monk's eyes widened. "You know Jak?" She asked as she knelt down close to the bed to be at eye-level with Jinx.

"Do you?"

The monk nodded. "He and his friend saved our temple." She replied. "I am Seem, head priestess of the temple."

"Uh…Jinx." Jinx replied. "Look…Uh…Do you have a way for me to contact my friends so I can let them know I'm alright?"

"We managed to save your communicator, but it took quite a beating." Seem replied, pointing to a large, wheeled box in the corner of the room.

Jinx's eyes widened. "My explosives cart!" He said as he got up.

"We recovered what explosives hadn't gone off as well." Seem replied as she followed Jinx over to the cart. "I apologize that we weren't able to save all of them."

Jinx looked into the explosives cart and saw that a fair amount of explosives had been saved. "Looks like the real powerful ones are still here." He said as he fished through the cart and eventually found his communicator. Jinx pulled the device from the cart, only to see that the back was smashed open and several key parts were missing.

"I know it isn't in one piece." Seem assured. "But I'm sure that they have some spare parts down in Spargus."

"Spargus?" Jinx asked. "How do you guys get all the way down there anyway?"

"We take a vehicle."

"Is that how you got me out of the desert?"

"Correct. We monks live high in the mountains, so we need a vehicle to get up here." Seem replied. "It makes trips a lot faster when going to Spargus."

"Driving a vehicle?" Jinx asked with a smirk. "No offense, but I thought that you monks would be against anything that made loud noises."

Seem chuckled. "Indeed, it sounds strange. But it's the best way to get around." She looked down timidly and gave another chuckle. "Actually, I've proven to be quite the driver."

"Man. A priestess driving a big vehicle?" Jinx asked. "This I gotta see someday."

"That day may be sooner than you think, because Spargus is the only place you'll find the pieces for your communicator."

"You'd do that?" Jinx asked, surprised.

"Of course. You need to make contact with Jak and the others." Seem nodded. "Finding the parts for your communicator is essential for getting you back to Haven City."

"Well, whenever you head down, I'd be happy to tag along." Jinx nodded.

"I'm actually preparing to head out right now." Seem replied. "I have a couple of errands to run in Spargus."

"Okay. Let's get going." Jinx nodded as he looked at his communicator. "I know what parts are missing from this, so it shouldn't take me too long to find what I'm looking for."

Seem smiled. "Then let's head out and see if we can help you." She said.

Jinx followed Seem through the temple, constantly staring at the amazing look of the temple. He could tell that the temple had been up for centuries at least, but it was still in pretty good condition.

"How long have you monks been keeping this place up and running?" Jinx asked as he walked alongside Seem.

"My direct ancestor was the one that built this temple. My fellow monks and I have been keeping this temple in good condition for centuries." Seem replied. "My only regret is that I have never seen this temple at its finest, before some of the walls and pillars fell."

"What happened? If you monks preserved this temple as well as you did, I guess the collapse wasn't because of being so old." Jinx said.

"You guess right, Jinx." Seem nodded. "Metal Heads attacked the temple while my mother was pregnant with me. The men of Spargus fended off the attacks, but by the time I was born, the damage was done. I grew up in Spargus, but I came here every day while growing older."

"Man. That sucks." Jinx shook his head. "Then again, I wouldn't put it past those Metal Heads to attack a sacred place."

"I know. If only I had been born ten years earlier." Seem lamented. "I would have been able to witness the temple in all its might and actually remember it."

"But then again, if you HAD been born back then, you may not have been around to see the Precoursers." Jinx reminded.

"I suppose you're right." Seem said with a smile. "I never thought of it that way."

"That aside, haven't you tried rebuilding this place?" Jinx asked.

"We could never build the temple to look like the original." Seem shook her head. "There's no architect left alive that knows how to build that well."

"So you're just going to leave this place as it is?" Jinx asked.

"This place is sacred ground." Seem replied. "We consider changing its look to anything but the way it originally looked is a sin."

"But…You don't know what it looked like."

"None of the monks still alive know what it looked like." Seem shook her head. "It's truly a tragedy in our minds."

Eventually, Seem led Jinx out of the temple, where the sun was shining down brightly on the desert of the Wastelands. Seem took Jinx over to a huge vehicle sitting nearby. Jinx stepped back in shock upon seeing it.

"Is something wrong?" Seem asked as she climbed up into the driver's seat.

"This…This vehicle's huge! You actually drive this thing?!" Jinx asked.

"Of course." Seem nodded. "This vehicle is capable of jumping, has an accelerating speed of zero-to-eighty in three seconds and comes armed with a machine gun and grenade launcher."

Jinx shook his head as he got into the passenger's seat. "I don't know what's scarier: You being able to drive this thing or you actually knowing all of its attributes like it's your 'baby'." He noted.

"You couldn't count the number of times this vehicle has saved me from Marauders on two hands." Seem replied as she started the vehicle. "The only reason I know all of it is because I used everything at least once to fight off attackers."

"You can drive that well?" Jinx asked, still a little skeptical.

Seem smirked. "Buckle up, Jinx." She warned.

"Huh?"

That's when Seem floored the gas pedal and took off down the trail leading to Spargus. Jinx found himself thrown backwards due to the sudden increase of speed. Looking ahead, Jinx saw that they were approaching the ledge by the waterfall. All it took was a press of a button for Seem to make the vehicle rocket into the air and over the gap, landing on the other side.

It took a lot of effort, but Jinx managed to get his seat belt on as Seem continued to drive through the desert, making a beeline towards Spargus.

In a matter of minutes, Seem had pulled the huge vehicle into the garage of Spargus, bringing the huge machine to a screeching halt.

An overweight, balding man saw the vehicle come in and smirked. "You stopped on a dime again, Seem." The man replied. "I seriously dunno where you got this driving ability from."

"I'm not sure myself, Kleiver." Seem replied as she jumped out of the vehicle and landed on her feet. "It just came to me while I was fleeing from a Marauder."

Jinx crawled out of the vehicle and landed flat on his back. Kleiver looked down and smirked. "Looks like ya had a new passenger." He added. "He must be tough. I haven't heard a scream of fright yet."

The demolitionist slowly got to his feet and found his legs shivering. Jinx grabbed hold of his legs and managed to steady them as he walked forward with Seem.

"This is Jinx." Seem introduced. "The monks and I saved him in the desert and now he's looking for some parts to fix his communicator."

"Haven-dweller, eh?" Kleiver asked. "Lemme see that communicator for a sec, mate."

Jinx shrugged and handed the overweight man his communicator.

"Yeesh. It's pretty banged up." Kleiver noted. "Good luck finding those parts, mate. Yer gonna need a lot."

"Don't think I don't know that." Jinx shook his head. "I just hope Spargus has all of the parts."

"Probably got most of 'em." Kleiver shrugged. "I can't be too sure about some of those parts."

"Well, I need to get my errands done and you need to find those parts." Seem told Jinx. "We'd better start."

"Yeah. Let's see what Spargus has." Jinx nodded.

With that, Jinx and Seem left the garage to start the search for the parts needed to fix Jinx's communicator.

"I need to get this thing fixed fast." Jinx noted.

"You're in a hurry to let the others know you're alright?" Seem asked.

"No. They're still in danger from the guy that set that bomb."

To be continued…

Author's note: Yeah, I know Seem acted amazingly out-of-character with the vehicle. I just thought it would be an amusing picture to see a priestess like Seem tearing up the desert.


	3. Spargus

It was supposed to be a normal reunion

Chapter Three: Spargus

1111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111

Jinx left a small shop in Spargus, fingering a gear he had just picked up. Seem was patiently waiting outside for him and made her way over to him when the demolitionist left the shop.

"Did you find what you were looking for?" Seem asked.

"I think so." Jinx nodded as he inspected the gear. "This looks like it'll fit into the communicator."

"Perfect." The priestess nodded with a smile. "How many parts does that make?"

"That's five." Jinx replied as he shoved the gear into a small pouch around his waist with the rest of the things he had picked up. "I only need two more parts, but these are getting more and more difficult to find…"

"Then we just need to keep looking." Seem shrugged.

The blonde man suddenly remembered what Seem had mentioned to him earlier. "Didn't you have a few things to shop for down here as well?" He asked. "Why haven't you made any move to start shopping?"

"Because it's a number-one importance to get your communicator fixed." Seem replied. "I can look for my supplies when we're finished."

"Look, uh…You don't have to do that…" Jinx pointed out. "I appreciate the help and all, but you don't have to wait for me to finish before you start."

"I know, but the supplies aren't of high importance right now." Seem assured. "We need to find you those parts. So what's next?"

Jinx whipped out the broken communicator and observed it. "I'm going to need a small spring so the batteries will be able to go in." He replied. "You know where we'd be able to get one?"

"I think I might." The priestess nodded. "Come on. This way."

With that, Seem led the blonde man through the desert city, heading towards a store to continue Jinx's search.

"So why don't you tell me how you know Jak?" Seem asked.

"Eh, there's not much to say." Jinx shrugged. "We were acquaintances at best up until the big fight against Veger."

"Indeed. I am aware of that vile man." The priestess sighed, shaking her head.

"Jak and I worked together on a couple of missions, and that was pretty much the extent of our friendship for a bit." Jinx continued.

"Pity. He seems like an interesting character." Seem chuckled.

"Meh. Sometimes. He can be a little moody at times." Jinx shrugged.

"Understandable after seeing how much he had gone through." Seem shook her head. "How about the rest of the team? What are they like?"

"Well, where to start? I assume you know about Sig since he lives here." Jinx said as Seem nodded. "I guess I'll start with Dax, then. The furry rodent has an ego twice as big as he is and whenever he does something right, he won't shut up about it. That flying rat Pecker is just as bad, although it's interesting to see him and Daxter going at it. I always thought Tess was a little strange back when she was an elf because she actually liked Daxter as a lover. It's a little less unusual now that she's furry, but I still can't get those images out of my head."

Seem chuckled again, but remained silent. She remembered seeing Tess acting all lovey-dovey around Daxter even before the she was turned into an Ottsel.

"Keira's a pretty nice gal and she fixes up all of our vehicles when we need them. A lot of single guys in Haven City like her, but know she's off limits because Jak would be on them like a hawk if they tried anything." Jinx continued. "Samos and Orin I just don't get. Their 'words of wisdom' don't get through to many people, much less me. Torn and Ashelin are all business and always determined to get the job done when it happens."

The two continued walking through Spargus, towards the store Seem was leading Jinx towards. Jinx had to admit that the more time he spent talking to Seem, the more he enjoyed the priestess' company. When Jak had mentioned Seem to him during the big scuffle against Veger, he had said that she didn't have much character or personality. However, even though he had just spent the past couple of hours with her, Jinx had realized that Jak couldn't have been further from the truth.

Despite this, Jinx kept his findings to himself rather than mention it to Seem. Eventually, the two elves arrived at another store.

"This is the store I had in mind." Seem noted as she led Jinx over to the door. "Hopefully, the part you're looking for is here."

"Yeah. I just need a couple more parts and then I should be able to make contact with the others." The blonde man nodded.

With that, Jinx and Seem entered the store to begin the search for one of the remaining parts the blonde man was looking for.

111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111

"You in here, Tess?" Keira asked as she entered the shooting range.

Daxter scurried past Keira and looked around. "Sugar! You here?"

"Daxie!" Tess said as she entered the room. "What brings you over here?"

"We're looking for Jak." Keira replied. "We got a message from Kaye."

"He's in the firing range, wasting his top score." Tess replied, jerking her furry thumb towards the door leading into the shooting range. "He's been in there for a while, and all I can hear is roars of anger from inside."

"He's probably still beating himself up over Jinx." The aqua-haired elf sighed. "Maybe I should just go in and try to talk some sense into him."

"You're liable to get shot with a Peacemaker." Tess warned. "You go in there and I won't be responsible for cleaning up your remains."

"Thanks a lot." Keira muttered.

"All things aside, we still need to get Jak to calm down." Daxter piped up. "This can't be healthy, even for him."

"He's gotta be almost done." The female ottsel shrugged. "He's been in there a couple of hours already."

"How can he spend that much time in there?" Keira asked. "Doesn't it take ten minutes to make one run through the shooting range?"

Suddenly, as if on cue, Jak emerged from the other door to the shooting range, his head low and the gun in his hand smoking.

"Uh…Jak?" Daxter asked, wondering if pestering his best friend was a good idea at the moment.

"Oh. Hey, Dax. Keira." Jak said, looking up slightly. "What're you guys ding here?"

"We just wanted to let you guys know that we got a message from Kaye about an update on the situation." Keira replied. "He says he has an idea on whom the people were that set you guys up."

"That's good to hear." Jak said with a crooked smirk. "I can't wait until we find out whom did this."

"He said he'd meet us at HQ in fifteen minutes, so we should head over there right away." Jak's girlfriend pointed out.

"You guys bring a vehicle?" Tess asked.

"We have a car outside." Daxter replied.

"Let's go, then." Jak said, walking towards the door.

111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111

"Did you find everything, Jinx?" Seem asked as she and Jinx left another store.

"I think I've got everything." Jinx nodded as he took another look at his broken communicator. "I won't know until I get everything together." Looking towards the priestess, the blonde man continued. "You going to get the supplies you're looking for?"

"I only need to pick up a few things." The priestess assured. "It shouldn't take too long."

"Well, let's go, then." Jinx nodded.

With that, the two continued walking through Spargus, continuing to shop, this time for Seem's supplies. Jinx felt that, even though he was thought dead to his friends, the day was going great.

Unfortunately, a group of men were standing aside and one of them decided to open his big mouth.

"Hey, baby!" The man, obviously drunk, called out to Seem. "Why don't you ditch that blonde and come hang with a real man?"

Jinx heard this and stopped walking, turning around and looking at the group of drunks.

"Come on! You know you want me!" The drunk continued as he friends laughed.

Jinx looked at Seem, whom was holding her head down, trying to keep walking to ignore the group. "Seem, wait here." The blonde said as he turned and prepared to walk towards the group.

Seem became aware of what Jinx was going to do and shook her head. "Jinx, please. Don't do this." She pleaded. "It's fine."

Jinx paused for a second, then shook his head. "No it's not." He replied as he walked towards the group of men.

The drunk that was making comments at Seem saw Jinx coming over and laughed. "Oh, look at this, fellas!" He laughed with a hiccup. "The blonde didn't like what I was saying! I wonder what he's gonna do!"

In the blink of an eye, Jinx had the drunk in a headlock and was holding an arm behind his back. "Apologize to her!" The blonde roared into the drunk's ear from behind. "Apologize to her right now, mac!"

"What's your problem, man?!" The drunk demanded with another hiccup. "Let go!"

"Not until you apologize to the lady!" Jinx shouted back. None of the drunk's friends dared to step near the two.

"Come on! Leave me alone!" The drunk continued. "Don't tell me you don't want that fine woman with you!"

Jinx's eye twitched. "SHE'S A PRIESTESS, YOU SICK PERVERT!!" He screamed. "Now get outta my sight before I stop going easy on you!!"

Shoving the drunk away, Jinx watched as the group of men scrambled off, hoping to escape the angered man's wrath.

Standing aside, another man looked at Kleiver, the man beside him. "Pretty harsh words, eh?" He asked.

Kleiver chuckled. "Ah, Korsh had it coming." He admitted. "I'm just sorry I didn't get to shout at him first."

In the meantime, Jinx walked back to Seem. "Sorry you had to watch that, Seem." Jinx said. "Guys like that make me sick."

"It…It's okay." Seem replied, trying to avoid showing Jinx her reddened cheeks.

"Well, shall we continue on?"

"Sure."

With that, the two walked off to continue shopping as if nothing had happened.

To be continued…


	4. Making Contact

It was supposed to be a normal reunion

Author's note: Do you guys see 'it was supposed to be a normal reunion' here? For some reason, it always shows up no matter what I do. That line was from a one-shot fic I wrote a couple of years ago, so it shouldn't even be there…

Chapter four: Making Contact

111111111111111111111111111111111111111

"Let's see…The gear goes there so it doesn't touch the battery container…"

Jinx sat in an open room inside the monk's temple, fiddling with his communicator in an attempt to cobble all of the parts he had collected together. Seem stood over him, watching him work.

"How is it coming along, Jinx?" Seem asked.

"I think I may actually be able to make this thing work." Jinx replied. "I managed to find all of the parts, so if the rest of the parts are still in good condition, I can make contact with everyone else."

Seem paused for a few seconds before deciding to strike up conversation and break the silence. "So how long have you been working with those explosives, Jinx?" She asked.

"Most of my life." The blonde man replied casually. "I've had a fascination with those things since I was a kid."

"So did you teach yourself?" The priestess asked.

Jinx gave a chuckle as he looked up from his work. "No. It doesn't matter how good you are. You need a teacher to help you through that type of training." He replied.

"And your teacher was a good instructor?"

"One of the best." Jinx replied as if he was proud to say it. "An explosives expert couldn't have asked for a better teacher. He taught me everything he knew and I made sure that I followed his instructions by the book."

"Interesting. Were you his only student?"

"Nah. He had a few others." Jinx shook his head. "In fact, there was this one guy that tried to do things his own way to improve on the way the teacher…" The demolitionist trailed off as he paused.

"What is it?" Seem asked.

"I gotta warn the others!" Jinx said as he grabbed his communicator again and started putting things together again.

"What's wrong?" Seem asked, getting a little worried.

"I just remembered where I heard that guy's name before!" The demolitionist replied frantically. "I need to get my communicator online quickly!

Seem watched as Jinx picked up the pace for putting his communicator together, as if his life depended on it. Within seconds, Jinx had managed to put the remaining pieces into the communicator. The demolitionist quickly inspected his work once he was done.

"I don't believe it!" The blonde man growled.

"What?" Seem asked. "What is it?"

"One of the pieces in the back is bent a little bit! I need to get it straightened or else the communicator won't work!" Jinx replied.

Seem paused before taking the communicator from the blonde man. Jinx did a double-take.

"Hey! What did you do that for?!"

"I've used a communicator before, Jinx." Seem replied as she reached into her pocket and pulled out a pin. "I have a slight handle with having to fix these things." Sticking the pin into the gears of the communicator and wiggling it around for a few seconds, Seem heard a click and removed the pin. "There. That should work."

Jinx stared in awe as he accepted the communicator again. "Is there anything about you I DON'T know, yet?" He asked.

"Um…No. I think we've covered everything…" Seem shrugged.

The demolitionist decided not to press matters any further and activated the communication, bringing it to life.

111111111111111111111111111111111111111111

Jak and the rest of the group sat in the HQ, sitting at a rectangular meeting table with Kaye. The businessman was holding a few photos in his hands and occasionally showed one or two to the group.

"So you think it was one of the guys you have working in foreign affairs?" Ashelin asked.

"Indeed. I suspect a few of my men, but I think that man is the ringleader." Kaye nodded. "In all honesty, I never really liked him. He was always trying to further himself and trying to get himself more profit."

"How can you be sure this is the right guy?" Jak asked.

"I found these blueprints in his office." Kaye replied as he spread a blueprint for a large bomb out on the table. "Once I found these, I assumed that these were for the large bomb you encountered in the desert."

Torn scanned over the blueprints and nodded. "Looks like it." He said.

"Why would thus joker try to off us, anyway?" Daxter asked.

"That I still haven't figured out, yet." Kaye shook his head. "I'm sure that if he was prodded enough, he would crack, though."

Jak opened his mouth to reply when his communicator went off. "I'll be right back." He said as he stood up.

"I wonder who it could be." Keira pondered as she looked around. "We're all here already."

Jak left the meeting room and answered his communicator when he was alone. His eyes bugged out when he saw Jinx's head materialize.

"J-Jinx?!" Jak asked. "Y-You're alive!"

"_It's a long story. I'll tell you guys when I have more time."_ Jinx replied. _"But right now, you need to cut all ties with Kaye as quickly as possible."_

"What? Why?"

"_Because he's the one that set us up in the desert."_ The demolitionist replied.

"You're serious? He's here in the HQ, saying that one of his employees was the one to set us up." Jak noted. "You're sure he's the one?"

"_Positive. Turn off the visual aspect of your communicator, listen in and ask him what I tell you to say."_ Jinx instructed.

Jak did as he was told and pressed a button, turning off the visual aspect and shutting Jinx's face off but maintain audio contact. Holding the communicator to his ear like a phone, Jak entered the room again ad looked at Kaye.

"Hey, Kaye?" Jak asked.

"Yeah?" Kaye asked.

"Do you know anything about explosives?"

"Uh…A little bit." Kaye nodded. "Why?"

"Listen, one of my friend's kids has a school project coming up and he wants to know a few pointers." Jak replied.

The other members of Jak's gang looked at each other with confused expressions, wondering what Jak was talking about, but remained silent.

"I'll see what I can do." Kaye nodded.

"He's trying to give a demonstration of a demolition and he's wondering what the best way to take down a building is." Jak explained.

"Oh, that's dead easy." Kaye chuckled. "Just place one really powerful explosive directly in the middle of the bottom floor of the building and the whole thing will fall down in one shot."

Almost instantly, Jak had pulled out a pistol with his free hand and had trained it on Kaye. "Freeze." He ordered, catching everyone off guard.

"Jak! What's wrong?" Daxter asked.

"Yeah! What's gotten into you?" Sig asked.

Jak ignored them and spoke into his communicator. "He said exactly what you said he would." He explained.

"_Okay. Is he looking back and forth as if trying to find a way out?"_ Jinx asked from the other end of the communicator.

Jak looked closely and saw that Kaye's eyes were racing left and right. "Yeah." He replied.

"_Is there a box on the table in front of him?"_ Jinx asked.

Looking down slightly, Jak saw that Kaye's cigar box was sitting on the table. "Uh…Yeah…" He replied hesitantly.

"_JAK, SHOOT IT!!"_ Jinx shrieked. _"SHOOT IT NOW!!"_

Jak fired one shot, striking that cigar box with perfect aim and knocking it off the table. The box hit the floor and burst open, revealing a small pistol.

"Hey! A pistol!" Daxter said in surprise. "You were probably planning something, weren't you?!"

"You were going to shoot us when you were done talking!" Keira growled.

Almost instantly, Torn, Ashelin and Sig had pulled out their guns and aimed them at Kaye's head.

Get out of here, scum." Ashelin growled. "If we see you in this district again, we won't think twice about putting you out of OUR misery."

Kaye didn't have to be told twice and fled the scene. After he was gone, Jak placed his communicator up to a device on the table and jacked into it, sending the communication through the loud speakers and showing it to everyone. Needless to say, everyone was shocked to see Jinx's holographic face appear over the table.

"Jinx?!"

"_Glad to see that you guys got away from Kaye."_ Jinx replied.

"How did you survive?!" Tess asked.

"_Like I told Jak, it's a long story."_ Jinx replied. _"But I'll gladly tell you guys when I get back to Haven."_

"Where are you, Jinx?" Ashelin asked. "We'll be there to pick you up in a flash."

"_I'm in Spargus at the monk temple."_ The demolitionist explained. _"Seem and the other monks rescued me and brought me to their temple to recover."_

"Seem?" Jak asked. "We haven't seen her since that whole thing with Errol."

"Well, you wait there, Jinx." Ashelin said. "We'll be there and bring you back."

"_I'm in no hurry now that I actually got through to you guys."_ Jinx replied. _"Take your time and I'll wait for you in Spargus."_

"It's just good to hear your alive, Jinx." Kiera nodded.

"Yeah. We were actually starting to miss you." Sig laughed.

"_Very funny, big guy." _Jinx chuckled. "_Okay. I'll see you guys in a bit."_

With that, Jinx turned off his communicator and the hologram vanished. As soon as he was gone, Ashelin pulled out her own communicator.

"Captain, get a ship ready." Ashelin ordered. "We need a lift into Spargus."

1111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111

"Somehow, I have a feeling that was TOO close." Jinx sighed as he placed his fixed communicator into his pocket. "Had I taken another few seconds to get a hold of them, I might have been too late."

"You got to them in time. That's the main thing." Seem assured, placing a comforting hand on Jinx's shoulder. "I suppose we should get you ready to go, then."

"Yeah. I guess so." Jinx sighed. He didn't want to admit it, but the demolitionist almost didn't want to go back, because that would mean that he would have to leave Seem.

Little did he know that, as he was soon to find out, he wasn't quite finished in the desert.

To be continued…


End file.
